He'll Be Fine
by Babitty99
Summary: In which Hunk gets hurt, and Lance has no one to steady him. "Lance's face burned, and he could hardly see through the blood and sweat dripping into his eyes. His arms burned from supporting Hunk and carrying his bayard. His legs burned from running and his lungs were fire in his chest, pure adrenaline coursing through his entire body. It was the only thing keeping him u
1. Hangst

Keith had walked the entire surface of this moon several times and he was sure he hadn't seen the stupid crystal Allura had insisted was here. But saying he walked the entire surface wasn't much of a feat. The moon was only something like 3 kilometers. There wasn't even space to park his Lion, and the red craft hovered above the small moon, clinging to its weak orbit. He had gone slowly at first, the first walk around taking half an hour. Now, 40 minutes later, he was frustrated, the balls of his feet ached, and he tore through the terrain. Allura was sure the crystal was here.

'And why shouldn't I trust the alien who's been asleep for 10,000 years', he thought bitterly. He passed the same rock for a fifth time and stopped dead in his tracks, letting out a groan. This wasn't a mission Keith was suited too. He hated wasting time, and he hated being an errand boy. He sat down on the rock with a huff and pulled out one of the small food packs he had. The stuff inside reminded him of astronaut ice cream, but it definitely wasn't chocolate flavored. It was sour, and if you left it sitting out (like a certain blue paladin often did) it started to smell like dead flowers. Still, it was better than only eating food goo.

"Paladins? Is everything going okay?" Allura's voice through his headset startled him after the eerie quiet of the moon.

"Everything's fine here." Shiro answered her immediately. He and Pidge had been tasked with gathering supplies from a nearby planet where a semi-civilized species lived. These little trading trips were their only chances to get anything new, especially food-wise. Coran could preach the wonders of food goo as much as he wanted, but that didn't make it taste better at dinner. Keith would have liked to accompany them, but Allura had sworn that the crystal was definitely on this moon and definitely worth it.  
Keith did his best to hide his resentment as he checked in that everything was fine, but there was no sign of the crystal.

Allura ignored that last bit. "Lance, Hunk, what's your status?" She sounded distracted, but that quickly changed as only static crackled back. "Lance? Hunk? Can you hear me?"  
Keith swore he heard something but the next second, it was replaced by static.

"Uh, maybe they're just out of range?" Pidge piped up.  
The radio went silent, Shiro and Pidge presumably in the middle of a market, and Allura now typing furiously at the castle commands, trying to find her paladins.  
Keith sat for another minute, trying to swallow down his dehydrated food.  
Suddenly a gunshot sounded loudly in his ears, and he shot up, dropping his pack and drawing his bayard in one fluid motion. He stood, all senses alert and screaming, ready for action. But nothing happened.

"What was that?" Shiro spoke through the headset and Keith realized he must have heard it too. That meant…

"It sounded like Lance's gun!"

"Are you sure?"

Pidge scoffed. "I've only spent hours messing with that thing! Of course I'm sure."

"Why was he firing his gun?"

"Lance? Lance, do you copy?"  
They all went silent, hoping for a response.

"…-unk!-"

"Lance!"

"Hunk? Lance?"  
Static burned through the radio for a moment and then they heard it again.

"-ome on! Allura, Do you hear me? We need hel-"

"Allura, send me their coordinates!" Keith was running to where his Lion was anchored before the words left his mouth.  
"We're right behind you!"

Lance's face burned, and he could hardly see through the blood and sweat dripping into his eyes. His arms burned from supporting Hunk and carrying his bayard. His legs burned from running and his lungs were fire in his chest, pure adrenaline coursing through his entire body. It was the only thing keeping him upright.

"Hunk, buddy, I really need you right now." Hunk was barely hanging onto his arm and Lance was practically dragging him at this point. He wedged them against a rock, taking some of the strain off his arm. He didn't know why none of the paladins were responding and he was scared. He'd been calling for back-up for 10 minutes, and that was 10 minutes that Hunk had spent bleeding onto him, almost unconscious.

Lance looked up to the sky, hoping for a miracle. Not some higher power, just a couple giant, robot lions would do. His minute of rest was quickly interrupted, as a grenade smashed against the rock above him. The explosion rang in his ears, and he dove, tugging Hunk down with him. Lance had been lucky so far that these guys had such bad aim, but the splash damage was just as dangerous, and it was only a matter of time before a grenade hit him square in the chest. He let go of Hunk and flipped onto his back, firing off a few shots from his bayard, hoping that would buy him a little more time. He was sure he had hit a couple, but there were too many to take out.

When he and Hunk had first arrived on this planet, it had been a completely different scene. The two paladins had been smiling and joking to each other, almost forgetting what they had been sent to do. They had set off exploring the cave systems and scenery, considering this a vacation. It had been Lance's fault really. He was showing off. He slipped. How was he supposed to know that one rock was the sacred one? They had attacked immediately, slipping from the shadows and dropping from the walls. The creatures were barely four feet tall, their skin a mottled gray-brown, with spikes on their back that looked like stalactites when they hung upside down. They moved fast and used their camouflage to flank and attack hard. The first grenade had landed at Hunk's feet, sending shrapnel straight up to the chinks in his armor and exposed parts of his body. Hunk hadn't even made it out of the cave before his legs gave out and Lance started dragging him. Now that they were out of the caves, the creatures couldn't get so close, but they were still deadly.

Lance's left eye was swollen shut, throwing off his aim and his arms were riddled in small cuts and soaked in blood, his and Hunk's. Taking advantage of the precious time he had, he flipped back to Hunk and gripped the larger paladin's arm, trying to haul him to his feet.

"Hunk come on! Please, Hunk, please. I can carry you, you just gotta get up!"  
Hunk groaned and Lance felt himself shaking.

"Lance…"

"No, come on!" The yellow paladin didn't move to get up and Lance couldn't stop the lump from forming in his throat. Hearing a rustle behind him, he clenched his jaw and threw himself back down, covering Hunk. A savage cry ripped from his throat and he pulled the trigger on his bayard, spraying in every direction. In the corner or his eyes, past the blur of sweat and tears, he saw a few of the creatures drop, either dead or retreating. He tried not to think about it.  
His hands suddenly registered the heat from his gun and he dropped it. The world went quiet, aside from a high-pitched ringing and Lance's own heartbeat pounding in his ears. He watched for any sign of movement, hardly daring to breathe. A full minute passed. Lance was almost starting to believe he'd scared them all off. And then he saw something whiz toward his head, and the rock next to them exploded. His vision went black and he scrambled blindly for his bayard. He blinked away spots and choked back a sob, coughing up the cloud of dust that enveloped them. Before he could lift his gun again, something very loud roared above him.

Literally roared.

"WHOOP!" Lance's voice cracked and he couldn't help the swell in his chest when he saw the red Lion.  
He wasn't going to die. They had heard him. They were here to help him. They were going to save him. They were going to save Hunk.

Hunk.

Lance rolled over, his feet knocking into his gun as he scrambled to shift Hunk enough to see his chest.  
There was large gash where a piece of shrapnel had wedged deep into the flesh just below his armor. His chest plate was smeared a sickening shade of red, and Lance's shaking hands slipped off it. He barely heard the deafening fight behind him as he searched desperately for some sign Hunk was still…

"Hunk?" His voice was small, almost inaudible, but he sighed in relief when Hunk let out a shallow, shuddering breath.  
The battle behind him was over in minutes, the creatures scared back into the caves by the red Lion, and any fight left was quickly drained when the green and black Lions appeared in the sky and landed as well.  
Shiro rushed to Lance's side, horrified by the sight of Lance's hands covered in the blood as he put pressure against Hunk's wound.

"Please…" Lance wasn't saying it to anyone in particular and he didn't sound like himself. Shiro realized how urgent the situation was. He moved Lance, and, with Keith's help, picked up Hunk, quickly rushing him to the black Lion.  
Pidge held Lance's elbow, and they trailed behind.

"Are you okay to drive?"  
Lance took a second to register the question and answer.

"I- No."

"Yeah, your eye looks pretty bad." Pidge ignored the numbness in his voice and the way his feet were barely lifting from the ground. "It's okay, your Lion will just follow us." Pidge lead him to the green Lion and it wasn't long before all five paladins left planet, the blue and yellow Lions powering themselves. They didn't move as smoothly as the other Lions, but it wasn't long to the castle.

"Allura, we've got them. Get a healing pod ready." Lance sat behind Pidge's chair and removed his helmet before he had to hear any more of the conversation. His whole body sagged and he felt himself nodding off.

Lance couldn't bring himself to be in the room when they got Hunk ready for the pod. He sat by himself in the hallway, trying to ignore the dried blood under his nails and smeared across his armor. None of them had undressed yet.  
He felt sick. He felt tired. He was angry and sad and completely numb all at once. Usually after rough missions and hard days, he'd find Hunk, who would hug him, and they'd sit together and just be there for each other. Now, he had nobody, and he didn't know what to do.  
Pidge emerged a few minutes later, looking tired and wiping their brow. They caught sight of Lance still sitting by the door and joined them.

"He'll be fine, you know."

"Yeah." Lance forced a small smirk.

"What happened anyway?"

"Ah, I dunno. I guess we- I guess I made them angry." Because he would never blame Hunk for anything.

"Damn, that sucks."

"That's five dollars to the swear jar Pidge." Lance referred to the jar that Shiro had set-up in the common room after he found out the other paladins were learning swears from the aliens they met and using them in every sentence they could.

"Worth it. Come on, let's get cleaned up. I'm tired."

"Yeah."

An hour later, Lance was in a t-shirt and loose pj pants. They had all raided the castle after only a while of living there and getting tired of wearing the same outfit every day. Lance had called dibs on the most elaborate and fancy Altean clothes, but the pj pants were a score too. Dinner had come and gone, quick and tense, even though Pidge, Shiro and Keith had been making light conversation. Lance couldn't eat. His stomach was still twisted up into knots and every so often his ears would ring faintly, a reminder of the day's events and the night he was blown up by Sendak's bomb.

He left his room to wander the castle. What he wouldn't do for one of Hunk's hugs right then. He hated showing any weakness to the other paladins, fearing that they wouldn't respect him or trust him. Being immature and a clown was better than that. Hunk was the only one he trusted with his real emotion. It had been that way at the garrison too. Every time he wiped a simulator or got reprimanded by an instructor, Hunk was the one he turned to for comfort.  
Without realizing, his feet had brought him to the common room, and he almost didn't see Shiro at first. The older paladin was sitting on the couch, reading something. He hadn't noticed Lance, and Lance almost backed out, but suddenly he just really didn't want to be alone.

"Hey."

Shiro looked up, almost with a start and Lance caught the flash of panic in his eye. He often forgot how jumpy Shiro could be.

"Hey, Lance." And that was almost the end of the conversation, but Lance lingered in the doorway for just a second too long before going and sitting down. Shiro put down the portscreen he was using and watched Lance.

"You okay?" He didn't sound like Lance's superior. His voice was the same one Hunk used, low and quiet and sincere.  
Lance couldn't stand it. Something cracked then, with those words, and he couldn't stop the sob that shuddered out. In an instant Shiro had an arm around him and Lance crumpled. They stayed like that for a while as Lance's shoulders shook. Shiro didn't say anything.

"Shiro?" Keith had been looking for him for a while and made his way into the common room.  
"Are you-" He stopped, seeing the two paladins on the couch. They were laying back against the armrest, Shiro scrolling through something on a portscreen, and Lance tucked into the crook of his other arm, asleep.  
Shiro hummed a greeting.  
"Uh, I just…Why is he…"  
Shiro looked up, abandoning his reading for the second time that night.

"He was upset." He said it simply and Keith almost scoffed, but he noticed the red rims of Lance's eyes, the blotchy cheeks, the way he wasn't holding onto Shiro but just laying there. Normally, he saw Lance as attention seeking, a goof-off, somebody that didn't take things too seriously. Seeing him now, like this, complicated that.

"Oh."

"What did you need?"

"I was gonna ask if you wanted to come spar, but…" He crossed the room and sat by Shiro's feet, careful not to disturb the sleeping paladin.  
There was a moment of silence.

"He sounded scared."

"Mm?"

"Earlier, over the radio."

"Ah."

"Pidge took a look at his helmet. They said it had been pretty badly damaged and that's why we couldn't hear him calling for help."  
Another silence.

"They said that if it had been crushed a little bit more, the radio might not have worked at all. We could have never heard them."

"We did though. It's okay."

"Yeah."

"We probably shouldn't tell Lance any of that, though."  
The two paladins looked at Lance and then at each other.  
Another silence hung in the air, longer and easier.

"Pidge owes the jar like twenty bucks by the way."  
Shiro barked out a laugh, but stifled it, so Lance wouldn't wake-up.

"How long are you gonna lay like that?"

"Eh. Robot arms don't really fall asleep." It was Keith's turn to smile. He stood and walked back to the door.

"I'll make sure Pidge doesn't take any pictures while you're sleeping."  
"Gee, thanks."  
Keith took one last glance at Lance as he left. He remembered back to when Shiro had been declared dead. He remembered trying to be tough and not letting anyone know how broken he felt. He remembered getting expelled from the garrison. He remembered being lost and trying to find some comfort to cling to. He remembered how Lance was feeling. And suddenly he realized that they weren't complete opposites. They just covered up in different ways.

Lance woke up before Shiro and slipped out of the room silently. His back was drenched in sweat and there was still sleep in his eyes, but there was still one person he hadn't seen yet. His limbs still felt like lead as he trudged to the healing pod room. The door slid open with a hiss. He figured it was only around 6 am, and his sense of time was usually pretty accurate. He sat cross-legged in front of Hunk's pod. Hunk looked peaceful, nothing like the mess he was yesterday. His hair was down; his bandana being washed with the rest of his things. Lance still had scratches and cuts littered across his body, some deep enough that they would definitely leave scars. He had a black eye and his lip was split painfully.

Hunk, on the other hand, looked almost completely healed. The small cuts were gone and the bruises were fading. They had probably bandaged him up before putting him in the pod. He lost a lot of blood. Lance wondered how long it would take him to heal. He had been in a pod for a day or so at least, and his injuries hadn't been worse than Hunk's. Thinking about the hole in his friend's gut made him frown.

"Hi buddy." The words hung in the air. "Miss you."

He sat there for a long time, not really thinking of anything after that. But, it wasn't long until the door hissed open again behind him. He twisted his body to see who it was. Allura stood there, in some sort of nightgown thing. It must still be pretty early then.

"Hey Princess." He gave her a small smile and she smiled back.

"Hello Lance."  
She came and sat next to him, not looking very ladylike. He caught of whiff of something flowery, but it definitely wasn't any flower from earth.

"He'll do fine."

"Mm? Oh. Yeah, he always does." That was true. Hunk was the only one that never got in trouble. Hunk was always the one bailing everybody else out.

"Did Pidge and Shiro get anything good to eat yesterday?"

"I haven't had a chance to go over the inventory yet. Would you like to accompany me?"

"Sounds fun." They stood at the same time, but before Lance could step away, she had her hands on his shoulders.

"Uh-"

"Lance. He really will be fine."

"Yeah, I kno-"

"It's okay to talk to people."  
He didn't have a reply, just swallowed hard.

"I know it's hard. You want to appear strong. You don't want them to see how weak you can be. When I lost my father-" her voice cracked slightly,"- For the second time, it was the worst feeling I've ever felt. To have your one comfort ripped from you- It's scary. And I know you don't want to talk about it. You don't have to right now. But it's okay to talk about it sometimes."  
She was staring him directly in the eye and as much as he felt trapped by her purple gaze, he felt just as safe.

"He's not the only one that loves you Lance. We all do."  
And before he had a chance to recover, she had let go of him and was smiling.

"Come on." He blinked, turned. Laughed.

"Yeah, ok. Coming. Let's count some food."

It was two days later, and all the paladins were gathered in the healing pod room after Allura had called them.

"According to his vitals, Hunk should be fully healed and emerging in just a little while."

"Really?" Lance perked up.

"Nice!" Pidge grinned at him and they both stepped closer to the pod. They had all spent the last two days doing chores around the castle, nobody in the mood to do anything serious but also not wanting to sit around doing nothing. Pidge had taken advantage of the castle's artificial gravity to float down the halls and wipe down the windows. Lance had laughed at them until his sides ached and proceeded to help Pidge take dumb pictures of them standing on the ceiling. In Hunk's absence, the two had grown closer, as Hunk was really the link between them. Hunk was Lance's self-control, and he and Pidge tinkered with robots and machinery together. But in the last two days, Lance and Pidge had bonded, finding they had more in common that they thought. Now, they couldn't wait for the trio to be reunited.  
They had all missed Hunk. Not just for his cooking, (What good is all that new food if the only thing Coran knows how to make is goo?) but for the way a room literally brightened with him in it. For his steadiness, in battle and everywhere else. For his nervous tics and gentle hands. They had missed every part of him.  
The team sat around his pod, making small talk, catching up on everything that had happened. Soon though, they reached a lull. It wasn't awkward, just silent. Aside from Lance's leg jogging nervously.

"Can you stop that?"

"Hmm?" Lance didn't even look at Keith, studying something on the healing pod.

"Your leg."

"Oh, sorry." His leg immediately froze and there was silence once more. For a moment.

"Dude!"  
Lance snapped to look at Keith this time, evidently having no clue what he was yelling about. Keith gestured, and Lance looked down at his leg jogging again, and then back at Keith.

"I can't help it!"

"Yeah, you can!"

"Nope!"

"Yes, you-" They were interrupted by a giggle from Pidge, and saw that Shiro and Allura also wore smiles. Keith looked back to Lance, who shrugged, leaned back, and went back to studying the pod. Keith found himself smiling at the other paladin, just a little.  
Lance's face still looked like hell, but the swelling was down and the black eye was almost faded. He had deep bags under his eyes, but he looked almost back to normal. Allura and Shiro had made sure he actually patched himself up and disinfected all his cuts.  
Pidge had pulled out a piece of junk and was messing around with it. Shiro and Allura began a quiet conversation littered with small laughs here and there. And for once Lance wasn't chattering away. Keith reflected on everything that had happened the past few days. He could still hear Lance's panicked voice. It had struck him that he would have been just as scared in that situation. A few times, he had even wondered if he would have been able to make it. Lance was stronger than him in that way. Lance could make it. Keith might not.

It was then that the healing pod slid open with a whoosh. Lance jumped to his feet, and Shiro was across the room in a second to help catch Hunk. The yellow paladin took a moment to get his balance and slowly eased out of their grip. They waited with bated breath and then…

"Jeez."

"Buddy!"

Lance was latched onto Hunk again, wrapping him in a hug. Hunk staggered back a little, but quickly returned the hug with double the strength, lifting Lance off his feet as they both laughed. The other members of Team Voltron couldn't help but smile with them. Nobody else had their bond.  
Hunk put Lance back down, but neither let go yet. They weren't laughing anymore. Lance buried his face in Hunk's chest and Hunk rested his head on top of Lance's, looking to the floor. Keith averted his eyes, feeling out of place in the middle of something so obviously personal.  
A moment later, both paladins finally released each other. Hunk looked to the others and grinned.

"Come on, I gotta hug the rest of you too now!"  
Pidge was the first to jump up and embrace him, followed by Allura. Keith shifted awkwardly into the hug.

"You too, dad," Hunk called from underneath the pile.

"Dad?" Shiro raised an eyebrow but accepted the hug anyway.  
Everyone pretended not to see Lance swipe at his eyes.

"Okay, okay, come on. I'm starving. Allura, how do you do it for 10,000 years?" Allura smiled at him, the question not calling for a real answer. With that, they left the room, and headed to the kitchen.

The castle had definitely brightened with Hunk's arrival and the team had spent the rest of the day catching him up on everything that happened while he was asleep and filling him in on the new kitchen stock. Allura had shown him a bunch of stretches to do, to get his muscles used to moving again, and he had poked around at what Pidge had been working on. By dinnertime, he felt well enough to cook something with Coran. Dinner was a happy affair and everybody joked and talked over one another.  
Afterwards, Hunk and Lance stood side by side doing the dishes. Shiro had offered to do them, but Hunk didn't mind. This was normally their chore anyway. Lance was elbow deep in soapy water and softly hummed some tune Hunk couldn't quite place.

"How are you?" Lance stopped humming.

"I'm okay. Everybody's been really weird."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I dunno."

"So…everybody's told me what happened here at the castle, but… I don't really remember anything…from before that."

"That's… a good thing Hunk."

"Lance…"  
Lance dropped his sponge and brought a hand to his temple, turning away from Hunk.

"Lance?" Lance mumbled something. "What?" Hunk grabbed his shoulder and turned him back.  
Through gritted teeth, Lance replied, "Headache."

"Are you okay?" Lance nodded stiffly, eyes shut tight. Just a moment later, Lance straightened up and rubbed his face. He smiled bitterly at Hunk.

"Happens every so often. It's nothing."

"Nothing? Lance, that's not nothing. Have you told the others?"

"What am I supposed to tell them? 'Hey guys, by the way I think I have brain damage, maybe we should check that out'?"

"Yes!" Lance dropped his smile and shrugged. "Lance…" Hunk was using a tone that reminded Lance of his mother, and suddenly he was being dragged out of the kitchen and back into the dining room.

"Sit." Lance didn't even have to look to know he wasn't getting out of this. He took a seat and Hunk sat next to him.

"Lance…Dude, what happened?" Lance sighed.

"Back on that planet, I dunno, you were unconscious almost as soon as it started but…" He paused.

"It was 10 minutes before anybody else showed up. I thought I was gonna die. I thought you were dead!"

"It's alright Lance."

"No, it's not! That's what everybody else keeps saying! That it's alright! It's okay because we made it, we're alive. And I get it. But we almost didn't make it, Hunk. I know… They think I don't know… but I heard Pidge talking about it. In that first explosion, we both got hit. My helmet… We might not have been heard at all."  
Hunk didn't reply, feeling airsick.

"You weren't moving. I couldn't get you to stand back up and I couldn't hear anything. I could barely see. It was the worst moment of my life."  
Another pause.

"And… I just missed you a lot, okay?" Lance's voice finally cracked. Hunk leaned forward and wrapped him in another hug.

"I missed you too, buddy." They had cried in front of each other before, but this time was different. They didn't cry. They just sat, Lance holding onto Hunk's sleeve. They sat like that for a long time.  
Finally, Hunk let go. Lance was all sniffles and Hunk ruffled his short hair.

"It's okay to talk about it okay?"  
Lance scoffed. "You sound like Allura."

"She's been stealing my lines huh?"

"Yeah. Oh, and I slept with Shiro."

"Babe, no!"

"Yep!"  
Hunk put a hand to his forehead in mock despair.

"You're incorrigible!"

"Dude, shut up, you know I don't know what that means."  
Hunk dropped his hand and grinned at Lance. The blue paladin was still sniffling a little, but he gave a little lopsided grin in return.

"Dude, I'll race you back to the kitchen."

"Last one there has to finish the dishes by themselves?"

"Get ready to do the dishes McClain!" Their chairs screeched against the floor as they jumped up and ran from the room.  
As it turned out, neither was willing to be the loser and they left the rest of it for Coran.

They spent the night in the same room, neither wanting to be alone after finally being reunited. Lance hogged the pillows, but Hunk didn't mind. They stared at the ceiling in the dark. Here, they didn't need to talk. Here, it was safe. There was no ringing in Lance's ears. There was nothing for Hunk to worry about.

"Ok, but seriously, did you sleep with Shiro?" Lance laughed.

"Because I wouldn't even be mad! I'd be proud. I mean, I'd need you to get out of this bed immediately, but I'd also be like 'damn lance got game'"

"Yeah he is a major DILF."

"Dude, ew, shut up." It was good that the rooms were so spread out or else they would all hear the outburst of laughter from the two paladins.  
They took a moment to catch their breath and sighed.

"I'm glad we survived, dude."

"Yeah."  
Hunk paused and then said "You should talk to the others."

"About what?"

"About anything. About the important stuff."

"Yeah, I know."

"Mm?"

"I know it's dumb but I just get so worried about what they'll think. Even though I know what they'll think."

"What'll they think?"

"They'll think 'wow that Lance sure is a great guy, he's hot and funny and in touch with his feelings, what a catch'."  
Hunk chuckled lightly.

"Go to sleep."

"Okay…Don't leave me like that again ok?"

"Promise."

Lance knew it had only been twenty minutes, but Hunk wasn't sure how much time had passed since that promise. Neither had fallen asleep yet. Hunk wasn't tired after a three-day nap, and even if Lance was exhausted, he didn't want to sleep. He'd been having nightmares lately. Of course everyone had been having nightmares.  
The two paladins sat silently in each-others company, not quite sure if the other was really still awake.  
"Lance?" Hunk whispered it.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember dreaming? In the pod?"

"…no. It was just dark."

"Oh."

"Do you?"  
"Yeah."  
"Oh."

Lance knew when Hunk did or didn't want him to pry.

"What about?" There was no reason for them to keep whispering, but they did anyway.  
Hunk made a soft humming sound, trying to gather the fuzzy bits and pieces of his dream.

"Just stuff I guess. I saw a lot of stuff. I could see my desk at the garrison. And things from different planets."

"Mmm." Lance sounded like he was finally falling asleep.

"Do you dream, Lance?"  
A pause.

"Most nights…"  
Hunk lay silent, waiting.

"…about bad stuff."  
Hunk rolled over onto his side, facing Lance.  
"It's okay."

"Yeah." Half-hearted at first. "Yeah." More sincere. Like Lance had finally convinced himself.

"Goodnight for real this time." Hunk yawned and rolled back to his other side.  
"Don't snore."  
"Promise."


	2. Pidge and Nunvill

**AN: A bonus chapter because while writing this fic originally I got a little headworm that turned into this, but I didn't include it because I just wasn't sure about it. A couple people wanted to see the bonus chapters tho so I fixed em up a lil until they were presentable lmao here take this. I couldn't decide if it takes place before of after Allura's chat with Lance last chapter but here you go anyways.**

It was late, but Pidge was up anyway. Pidge liked the quiet, how nobody was around to bug them. They walked the castle, holding their laptop with one hand and typing with the other. Pidge got things done at night, but they also worked on stupid things. You had to take breaks sometimes. Right then, they were working with scraps of Rovers code that had been saved. Pidge was looking for some way to change the color of rovers lights, although, without the little robot present, there was no way to tell what worked and what didn't. Remembering that, the green paladin stopped typing and sighed. They checked the time, and headed to the kitchen for a 2am snack.

Pidge didn't notice anything at first. The lights were off, and Pidge flicked the switch as they walked in.

Setting the laptop on the small island, they headed to the pantry. Another light switch. Except this time, as they flicked it, there was a muffled " _shit_ " from the back row of shelves.

"Hello?" Normally, no one else was up this late, and certainly not hiding in the closet.

A groan in response. Pidge slowly rounded the shelves to see someone sitting on the floor with their head between their knees.

"Lance?" Lance didn't know if the room had gotten painfully bright because of his headache or because of what he'd been drinking. "Lance, what the fuck?"

Lance looked up through teary eyes at the blur talking to him.

"Oh, hi."

Pidge bent down and inspected one of the empty bottles on the floor.

"Is this… nunvill? Dude, I thought this stuff got tossed." Lance's head flopped back down and he groaned into his knees. "How much have you been drinking?" Pidge sounded alarmed.

Lance shrugged.

A deep breath. "Okay, come on, let's get you out of here."

Pidge was significantly smaller than Lance, but paladin training and garrison work-outs had made Pidge strong enough to loop one arm under Lance's shoulders and hoist him up. Lance protested, weakly, as Pidge dragged him back through the pantry.

"What's that?" Lance gestured to the code on the laptop screen as they walked past.

"Uh, it's Rover I guess."

"Rover's gone though."

Pidge's face grew flushed.

"Yeah, well…So?"

"Sooo," He stretched the word, his breath making Pidge's nose crinkle, "why are you even bothering?" His speech was slurred but his voice was stronger.

A sweat had broken out on Pidge's brow and they shifted Lance's weight around. The older boy dangled limply and trudged along.

"Because… Because I want to. I dunno."

"That doesn't…make any sense."

"Yeah, well, neither does getting drunk on alien juice in the closet, asshole." Lance laughed.

"Watch your language, silly." Pidge rolled their eyes. It was slow-going down the hall. Lance was basically dead-weight and Pidge muttered every curse in their very extensive vocabulary. Some alien languages got butchered but for the most part Pidge was picking up on many languages quickly, and with every planet they landed on, the more they learned. It was a highlight of their travels.

Eventually, they made it to Lance's room, though getting the door open was a hassle. Pidge let Lance fall onto his bed, anxious to get back to their laptop before the battery died. However, as they unhooked their arm from his neck, he reached up and latched onto their sleeve.

"Hey."

"Hi?"

"Do you ever," He paused, looking as if he were going to hurl. "Huh. Do you ever blame yourself...for what happen'd to Rover?" The hairs on Pidge's neck stood, and they were suddenly aware of how cold the room was.

"What?"

"I mean... didn' you kind of make him... do it?" His grip on their sleeve tightened slightly, and he pulled himself up to more of a sitting position. Pidge wasn't sure if it was the nunvill talking or... Lance. They stared at him, trying to think.

"No. I didn't make Rover do anything. It... He was my friend."

"But you..." Lance's blue eye's focused though he still stared at the space behind Pidge. His tone turned accusatory. Hysterical. Remorseful. He didn't sound like Lance. He sounded like someone who hated Lance.

"You made him be your friend. He would never have... He wouldn't have been there if it weren't for you. Isn't it your fault?"

 _Isn't it my fault?_

Pidge tasted something sour in the back of their throat.

"Lance." A beat as the paladin searched for words, never their strong suit. "Hey, look at me." Lance's gaze shifted, though he didn't look Pidge in the eye. Looking at him was surreal. There was a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead, dark bags under his eyes, his hair messy, a small wet spot on his shirt. Pidge forgot every insult they had thrown in the hallway minutes before.

"Rover was my friend because he wanted to be. Maybe I influenced him a little in the beginning, but every moment after that was a choice. His choice. He chose to catch me in the vents. He chose to distract guards. He chose to be there at the end. Lance, it's not your fault." Lance's eye's flickered up to Pidge, for a single instant. And then, he nodded. He breathed. He swallowed, blinked, started living again.

"Cool." Lance released their sleeve, his distressed expression dissolving. Pidge stood there as Lance lay back, handed him the corner of his blanket to pull over himself.

As Pidge left the room, they heard Lance weakly call out in a sing-song voice, "Don't tell Shiro…"

Pidge paused in the doorway.

"And Lance? I feel- I **know** Rover doesn't blame me either." There wasn't a reply, but Pidge could tell Lance hadn't passed out yet. "Rover was my friend, after all."

Normally the green paladin wasn't one to wax poetic or sappy. They were direct, confrontational. But sometimes the only way to confront something was to be vague about it.


	3. Keith and Breathing

It had been nearly three weeks. The paladins had fallen back into their routines, happy to have everyone back and what could be called normal. They hadn't been in any real fights lately, aside from the liberation of the small planet of tiny six-legged creatures that scuttled and made choppy noises in expressing gratitude to the paladins. The battle had been easy, the planet evidently not worth much to the Galra. Lance had been steady enough during battle, secure in his Lion.

That afternoon, the paladins were working on team-building exercises with Allura's cold supervision. She had them do their regular workout drills and decided that they weren't focusing enough. Now, they were supposed to fight the training droids, whilst protecting their fellow paladins, as Allura threw distractions at them. A recording of Pidge saying alien swears had alreadymade them stumble and the rest of the paladins do a double-take, and a minute later, a hologram of Coran doing some awful dance nearly got Pidge decapitated as Shiro and Hunk both had a lapse of discipline.

Lance was doing his best to cover Keith's back, but he was already tired from their initial work-out and he found it hard enough to focus even doing normal things. He relied on having enough time to think things through in battle and weighing all his options, as well as Blue's comforting presence. Keith on the other hand, looked to be doing fine, relying purely on the instinct that made him a better pilot than Lance. Lance blasted away a droid, checked behind him at the other paladins and turned to face another droid that was about to fire into Keith's back-plate. Right as he raised his bayard to take the shot, a loud noise echoed through the room.

Lance blanked. He hit the floor before his brain could process the movement. The realization that the noise was just another distraction and not real and not going to hurt him struck him at the same time that the training droid struck Keith.

The red paladin cried out and whirled around to look for who was supposed to be guarding him. The other paladins took notice but continued fighting their own droids. Lance sat up, his bayard a foot away from him. His mind was still reeling and cloudy and he couldn't quite catch his breath.

He looked up, at Keith's indignant face. The fire and confusion in his eyes. Lance burned in them, with embarrassment, with anger at himself, with the hot shiver that left him felling smothered. A second booming sound played from the hidden speakers and even as Lance told himself what was happening his throat tightened, blood pounded in his ears, Keith shouted something and…

He ran. Keith yelled after him, echoed by the other paladins. Leaving them behind, Lance ran. He didn't know where to go, only that he had to get out of that room. The sounds of fighting faded as he whipped around corners, stumbling into walls. He tripped and fell and stood again but couldn't take another step. His legs felt like fire. He leaned against a wall, head spinning. He couldn't get the sound out of his head. The sounds. He felt sick.

After a moment, he heard the footsteps. Keith rounded the corner, and slowed to a stop.

"Lance, what the hell?" Lance didn't have a sharp retort, or the energy to tell him to leave.

"I- I'm sorry, I just- I panicked, I thought-"

"You were supposed to have my back!"

"I was trying!"

"You were sitting down!"

"No- no that's not what-"

"What happened?" Keith was sweating and angry and Lance couldn't draw a deep enough breath.

"I- can't breathe."

"What?"

"I can't- I can't"

Lance didn't see him move, but suddenly Keith was in front of him, holding his shoulder.

"Hey, look at me." Lance didn't want to open his eyes. He felt dizzy and a wave of heat rushed down his spine.

"Lance, it's okay, just breathe. Look at me." Lance met his gaze, searching for something to latch on to.

"You're having a panic attack okay? It's gonna be fine, just breathe with me." Keith took a deep breath and Lance struggled to match it.

"Okay, now hold it…" Keith paused. "...And, exhale. Good, okay, again." They repeated the process a few times until Lance could breathe even with Keith. Still, he was shaking and his hands were wrapped around Keith's wrists without realizing it.

"Are you good now?" Lance nodded.

"Okay." And just like that, Keith let go of him, stepping away and leaning against the opposite wall.

Neither spoke for a moment.

"Thanks."

"You would have been fine."

Lance was suddenly incredibly tired. After working out, he didn't think he could be anymore drained, but right then he realized that was wrong. He slumped against the wall.

"Thanks though."

After a minute, Keith spoke, "Why'd it happen?"

"The sound. I dunno. I freaked out."

"Oh." Keith paused. "I'll go tell the other's you got sick or something."

Lance nodded, but Keith didn't leave yet.

"You don't have to run off everytime something bad happens okay?"

Lance ignored him. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"The breathing thing?" He stared down at Lance, opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. "I don't know. Just picked it up I guess."

Lance was sitting on the floor now, his throat too dry to reply.

Keith pushed off the wall, and Lance watched his boots walk back down the hall. Lance wanted to go to sleep right there, but after Keith's footsteps had completely faded away, he pushed himself up, forced himself to move. Trailed one hand on the wall. Thought about the hell Allura was going to give him later for ditching. Thought about Hunk making dinner, hours away. Thought about his bed. Thought about breathing. Thought about nothing until he made it to his own room, to his own bed, stripped off his armor, bothering to set only the helmet on the desk nicely. Faced the wall in the dark. Slept.

"He got sick."

"Is he okay?" "He didn't look sick." Hunk and Pidge at the same time.

Allura had stopped the training after Keith had ran out. The rest of the paladins had secretly sighed in relief and sat around waiting. Allura wasn't happy, but she was also curious.

"I dunno. I think he just went to bed. He looked like he was fine."

"So was he ditching?" Allura rested a hand on her hip, looking ready to storm Lance's room and yank him back to work.

"No, he- He really was sick, but he's gonna be fine." Keith was only a little bit agitated. "Look, I don't know, okay? We only talked for a minute. Just- Just let him sleep." Shiro caught his eye, brow furrowed. If anybody would understand… But no. He'd told Lance he wouldn't tell. After what happened, he had to at least give him his privacy. Let Lance open up to them in his own time. Still… Keith hoped that was sooner, rather than later. And if Shiro, or any of the others, decided to pursue the topic with Lance later, then fine, Lance could handle them himself. But Keith would say no more. Keith would… just be there. He would listen. He would help Lance breathe, if he needed it. If he wanted it. If he wanted his help.

If Lance wanted it, Keith would say nothing.


End file.
